Power driven transfer roll for flexible oil collector tube

ABSTRACT

A flexible, hose-like elongated collector adapted for collecting hydrophobic materials floating in a layer on the liquid in a reservoir of water or the like is formed into an endless loop which passes into or upon the liquid in the reservoir, then upwardly and out through or away from the layer of hydrophobic material which collects on the surface of the collector, after which a doctor blade means scrapes the coated material therefrom. The present improvement provides a transfer roll over which the collector passes during its travel away from the reservoir and toward the drive wheel which pulls it over the transfer roll or wheel and drives the collector again downwardly toward the reservoir. This transfer roll furnishes a large radius fair lead for the tube so that sharp bends in the tube are avoided. It also prevents twisting and tangling of the up-coming loaded tube with the downwardly traveling scraped or clean tube. The apparatus also confines the collector tube so that various scrapers can be utilized to give a cleaner tube and to give a longer scraper life.

United States Patent [191 Brill et al.

[ 51 Jan. 9, 1973 [S4] POWER DRIVEN TRANSFER ROLL FOR FLEXIBLE OILCOLLECTOR TUBE [22] Filed: May 7,1971

[21] App]. No.: 141,227

[52] US. Cl ..2l0/400, 210/523, 210/DIG. 21 [51] Int. Cl. ..E02b 15/04[58] Field of Search ..210/396, 400, 523, DIG. 21

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1970 Brill ..2lO/3961/1970 Yahnke ..210/400 Primary ExaminerJohn Adee Att0rneyBaldwin, Egan,Walling & Fetzer 571 ABSTRACT A flexible, hose-like elongated collectoradapted for collecting hydrophobic materials floating in a layer on theliquid in a reservoir of water or the like is formed into an endlessloop which passes into or upon the liquid in the reservoir, thenupwardly and out through or away from the layer of hydrophobic materialwhich collects on the surface of the collector, after which a doctorblade means scrapes the coated material therefrom. The presentimprovement provides a transfer roll over which the collector passesduring its travel away from the reservoir and toward the drive wheelwhich pulls it over the transfer roll or wheel and drives the collectoragain downwardly toward the reservoir. This transfer roll furnishes alarge radius fair lead for the tube so that sharp bends in the tube areavoided. It also prevents twisting and tangling of the up-coming loadedtube with the downwardly traveling scraped or clean tube. The apparatusalso confines the collector tube so that various scrapers can beutilized to give a cleaner tube and to give a longer scraper life.

16 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJAN 9 197a SHEET 1 OF 2 I II: I.

INVENTORS EUGENE L. BRILL BEATRICE M. BRILL BY ATTORNE S zww 3 VENTOR5EUGENE L. RlLL FIGS BY BEATRICE M. BRILL ATTORNI s SHEET 2 BF 2PATENTEDJAN 9 I973 8 W F ///W POWER DRIVEN TRANSFER ROLL FOR FLEXIBLEOIL COLLECTOR TUBE This apparatus may generally be regarded as animprovement over U.S. Pat. No. 3,508,663, granted Apr. 28, 1970 toEugene L. Brill.

This invention relates to improvements in a flexible, elongated,generally cylindrical collector for hydrophobic materials and, moreparticularly, to an endless loop collector which passes into or uponliquid in a reservoir having a floating layer of the hydrophobicmaterial, then upwardly and out through or away from the layer wherebythe layer material is coated on the surface of the collector loop, afterwhich doctor blade means scrapes the coated collector to remove thematerial therefrom.

One of the uses of this invention would be the removal of an oil layeron a water reservoir to avoid water pollution.

This invention overcomes some difficulties encountered in the use of theapparatus disclosed and claimed in the prior U.S. patent No. 3,508,663.It was found that on long lifts between the collector drive and thereservoir, the collector tube would occasionally twist, like the ropeson a child's swing. The drive wheel would drag one run of the loop intothe scraper which, of course, dragged the whole tangle into the scraperand destroyed the tube. The collector tube in the former device passeddirectly through the scraper on its travel from the reservoir. On highlifts the weight of the loaded tube pulled a sharp bend in the collectortube where it passed over the scraper. In one change of the apparatus, aguide and roller were provided ahead of the scraper to save the tube,but this lost a lot of oil as the collector tube was wiped by the guideand roller.

Another change which was tried was the provision of an idler in theposition of the transfer wheel of the present invention but this gaverise to other problems. A first disadvantage was that much of the oil isrolled off of the collector tube by contact with such an idler wheel.Secondly, there was a tendency for grease and other sticky material tobuild up on the idler wheel until the collector tube was forced off thewheel. For these reasons, the present invention utilizes a power driventransfer wheel which has a surface speed preferably slightly greaterthan the speed of the tube provided by the drive wheel. This carries theoily material into the machine instead of letting it accumulate and runback from the pinch point between the collector tube and the transferwheel. The scraper or doctor blade of the present invention keeps asteady pressure on the transfer wheel and prevents build up of thematerial collected by the tube.

The objects and advantages of the present invention will be betterunderstood from the description and the drawings which follow and theessential features thereof will be set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

FIG. I is an elevational view of one embodiment of this invention wherethe drive wheel and transfer wheel are on spaced parallel shafts;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the machine of FIG. 1 taken from the right-handend thereof;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the same;

FIG. 4 is a fragmental sectional view, enlarged, taken on the line 4-4of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a fragmental sectional view, enlarged, taken on the line 5-5of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of a second embodiment of thisinvention wherein the drive wheel and the transfer wheel areside-by-side and driven by the same shaft;

FIG. 7 is an end elevational view of the second embodiment; while FIGS.8, 9 and 10 are sectional views, enlarged, taken respectively along thelines 8-8, 9-9 and I0--- 10 of FIG. 6.

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 3, a reservoir 10 is illustrated ascontaining a liquid such as water 11 on which floats a layer 12 of oilor the like, this being intended to represent any of the layer materialswhich are collectable on the surface of the collector tube. Mountedabove the reservoir on a suitable structure 13 is a frame 14 on whichthe mechanism of the present invention is mounted. A generallycylindrical flexible collector loop 16 travels over a drive wheel 17which passes the collector tube downwardly as seen at the left-hand sideof FIG. 1 into the reservoir 10 and through or upon the layer 12 ofpollution material in the water 11, then upwardly out of the reservoirthrough or away from the layer 12 and upwardly in the direction of thearrow at the right-hand side of FIG. 1. Doctor blade means 18 isprovided where the coated collector comes out of the reservoir as itleaves the transfer wheel 15 of the present invention. This blade meansscrapingly engages the collector 16 so as to remove the material coatingthe collector and this drops away as indicated at 19 and is carried awayin any suitable manner as indicated at 194 so as to prevent the returnof the polluting material back into the reservoir 10. The drive pulley17 is like that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,508,663 except for a safetyprotecting rim which will be described hereinafter. This drive wheel hasteeth 21a and 21b extending radially outwardly from the peripherythereof at spaced points circumferentially thereof, these flanged teethbeing arranged alternately on opposite sides of the collector 16, asclearly seen in FIG. 1 with the teeth 210 all on the side of thecollector toward the viewer in FIG. I and teeth 21b all on the oppositeside of the collector. The collector loop then passes around the drivingwheel 17 in a wavy line and is firmly wedged between the teeth 21a and21b.

The transfer wheel 15 is rotatably mounted on the base 14 by means ofshaft 15a which is parallel to the drive shaft 17a of the drive wheel 17which is also rotatably mounted in the base 14. Both wheels are drivenby an electrical motor M mounted on the base 14 and having a drivenshaft 22 whichhas one take-off at 22a to drive shaft 15a and anotherdrive connection at 22b to drive shaft 170. The wheels 15 and 17 arehere shown as approximately the same diameter but the drive 22a isarranged to provide a slightly greater peripheral speed of the collectortube 16 as it passes around the wheel 15 as compared to the peripheralspeed passing around the drive wheel 17. In any case, the speed of thetube around the: wheel 15 must be equal to that around the wheel 17..

Doctor blade means is provided at 18 for removing material collected onthe outer surface of the collector tube 16. As shown herein, and more indetail in FIGS. 1 and 5, this comprises a block of generally squaredsurfaces 18a which is firmly secured to the base 14 by screws or boltssuch as indicated at 23. The forward end of this block is formed at 24to provide a curved scraper blade engaging approximately the lower halfof the sectional surface of the collector tube 16. A flexible strap ofleather or the like 25 is firmly held between a recess 26 and the base14 by means of the securing screws 23. This strap passes over the top ofthe collector tube and hangs down on the opposite side, held in thatposition by a lead weight 27. The strap 25 has one edge 25a cut on anarc of greater diameter than the opposite edge 25b so that in theposition shown in FIG. 1, the surface at 25c is somewhat conical causingthe edge 25b to engage firmly against the collector tube.

To clear the pollution material from the periphery of the transfer wheel15, a scraper 28 is provided having a shoe 28a which is pressed at alltimes against the periphery of wheel 15 by means of lever 29 which ispivoted at 29a on the base 14 and is urged in a scraping direction bythe weighted end 29b.

The drive wheel 17 has a safety feature which is not found in US. Pat.No. 3,508,663. This is a rim which is integral with the outer ends ofall of the teeth 21a and which prevents an operator from getting fingerscaught between the drive teeth. The rim 20 is a complete circle exceptfor a break at 20a which is provided for the purpose of threading thetube 16 into the drive wheel when setting up the apparatus. This isnecessary because of the close clearance between the wheel 17 and thebase 14. In operation, the tube is held toward the viewer in FIG. 1 inthe notch 200 while the collector tube is threaded around the teeth 21a,21b by rotation of wheel 17. The collector tube is held firmly inposition in the drive wheel by means of idler rollers 30 which arerotatably mounted on brackets 31 secured to base 14.

In like manner, a notch 15b is provided in the rim of the transfer wheel15 to provide means for threading the collector tube around theperiphery of wheel 15 while the wheel is being turned in the directionof the arrow shown. It should be understood that the wheel 15 has a pairof generally parallel flanges on opposite sides of the collector 16 inthe manner of a pulley. This is a smooth non-driving surface and thedoctor .blade means 18 provides sufficient friction on the collector 16so that the collector tube slides slightly relative to the rotatingsurface of the periphery of wheel 15.

In the operation of this embodiment, with the apparatus set up as shownin FIG. 1, the motor M is started to drive the wheels 15 and 17 in amanner previously described. The drive wheel 17 passes the collectortube 16 downwardly as seen at the left of FIG. 1 into or upon the layer12 on the water 11 and preferably the portion engaging the water isgreater than the distance between shafts 15a and 170 plus the radius ofwheel 15 plus the radius of wheel 17 so that an excess of collector tubeis provided upon the water in the reservoir which preferably forms loopsso as to disturb the layer 12 and more efficiently collect thehydrophobic material from it. The dirty collector tube passes upwardlyas at the right in FIG. 1, over the driven wheel 15 and through thedoctor blade means 18 so that material is scraped from the collectortube and dropped as at 19 into the discharge means 190. Other materialcollected on wheel 15 is scraped away at 28a and is also carried away at19a.

The second embodiment as shown in FIGS. 6 through 10 operates on thesame principle as the first embodiment. Here the drive wheel 17 is likethat shown at 17 in the first embodiment except that as shown clearly inFIGS. 7 through 10 the teeth 21a are connected by a circular cylindricalrim 32 which is rigid and extends with its cylinder axis identical withthe axis of drive shaft 170' and the horizontal extent of the rim 32 issufficient to carry the collector tube 16'. The rim 32 provides thetransfer wheel in this embodiment and its periphery engaging thecollector tube is of slightly greater diameter than the periphery ofdrive wheel 17 engaging the collector tube so that when shaft 17a isdriven by motor M the peripheral speed on the transfer rim 32 isslightly greater than the peripheral speed around the drive wheel 17.The rim 32 has a notch like that shown at 20a in the first embodimentfor permitting threading of the collector tube around the combinedwheels.

Shown in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 is doctor blade means for removing thehydrophobic material from the collector tube 16 and at the same timethese are formed as cam shoes to cause movement of the portion of thecollector tube traveling on rim 32 to the position of the portion 161 ofthe collector tube when it is moved between the teeth 21a and 21b. Thedoctor blade 33 shown in FIGS. 6 and 8 has a curved scraper portion 33awhich embraces a portion of the lower side of collector tube 16' and aportion of that side of the collector tube farthest removed from thebase member 14 and on that side of the collector tube 16 which isbetween the rim 32 and the drive wheel 17' as clearly shown in FIG. 8.This is firmly fixed to the base by screws 33b. As the wheels 17 and 32travel in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 6, thecollector tube next engages combined scraper and cam shoe 34 as clearlyshown in FIGS. 6 and 9. This embraces that portion of collector tube 16'on the bottom and on the side nearest the base 14' which was not scrapedby the shoe 33. The curved surface 33a provides this scraping action andat the same time cams the collector tube 16' toward the drive wheel 17as is clearly seen by comparing FIGS. 8 and 9. The shoe 34 is secured tothe base 14' by screws 34b. Upon farther travel around wheel 17, thecollector encounters a combined scraper and cam shoe 35 as best seen inFIGS. 6 and 10. This shoe 35 has a curved surface 350 which scrapes thatportion of the surface of the collector 16 not previously scraped by themembers 33 and 34. At the same time, the scraper or shoe 35 carries thecollector 16 from the position of FIG. 9 to that of FIG. 10 where it isdirectly under the drive wheel 17 and at the same time carries itupwardly between the teeth 21a and 21b. The shoe 35 is secured by screws35b to the base 14.

As seen in the upper portion of FIG. 6, a pair of idler rollers 36 arerotatably mounted on shafts 36a which are journaled in base 14 and theseserve to press the collector tube 16' firmly between the teeth 21a and21b. A clearly illustrated in FIG. 7, both of the wheels 36 serve tohold the collector portion 160 in proper position on the rim 32 so asnot to slide over against the collector portion 161.

The operation of the second embodiment should now be easily understood.The base member 14 is suitably supported above the reservoir to betreated. The endless collector loop 16 is arranged with its lowerportion extending down to the reservoir and the portion 160 is wrappedaround the rim 32 as shown in FIG. 6 as extending a little more thanthree-quarters ofthe way around the circle. The tube is passed beneaththe shoes 34, 34 and 35 on the drive wheel side thereof and then aroundthe drive wheel from the lower righthand side thereof in FIG. 6 almostthree-quarters of the way to the position of the vertical tangent to thedrive wheel at the left side thereof in FIG. 6 where the portion 161 ofthe collector passes downwardly again to the reservoir. Here again,preferably sufficient collector length is provided on the surface of thereservoir to travel around at random over the layer 12 in the reservoirso as to collect the hydrophobic material efficiently. The motor M isthen set in operation and the collected material scraped off at 33, 34and 35 is allowed to drain into a discharge trough in a manner similarto the first embodiment so as to prevent return of the hydrophobicmaterial to the reservoir being treated.

Because the periphery of wheel rim 32 is greater than the periphery ofdrive wheel 17' engaged by collector 16', the collector tube must slipon rim 32 which is smooth to permit this. The scraper shoes 33, 34 and35 provide sufficient friction to cause this slipping action.

The collector 16 or 16 could be a solid tube or rubber or rubber-likeplastic synthetic material. A preferred form is shown in the drawings asa hollow tubular rubber-like member. Polyurethane has been verysuccessfully used for this purpose. When the hose-like loop is welded tomake a closed loop, the air trapped inside will cause the loop to have agravity allowing it to float on water. Polyurethane tubing is preferredbecause of its high abrasion resistance and because it may be weldedtogether very efficiently to form the endless loops required by thisinvention. For use where high temperatures are involved, neoprene ispreferred and this also can be easily vulcanized into an endless loop.The generally cylindrical cross-section of the flexible collector looprenders it capable of moving about in any direction so that the loop canfloat over a wide area where the oil or grease is to be collected.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for collecting hydrophobic material from a layer floatingon a liquid reservoir comprising a single endless loop of an elongatedflexible generally cylindrical collector of substantially uniformdiameter having attraction for the hydrophobic material, drive means forpassing said collector into said reservoir beneath said layer and thenupwardly and out through said layer whereby said hydrophobic material iscoated on the surface of said collector, said drive means including afirst wheel having a collector-gripping periphery and a second wheelhaving a nongripping periphery several times the diameter of saidcollector with said first wheel pulling saidcollector out of saidreservoir over said second wheel, means supporting each of said wheelsfor rotation about a horizontal axis above said reservoir, means fordriving said wheels with the peripheral speed of said second wheel atleast equal to the peripheral speed of said first wheel, and means forremoving said hydrophobic material from said coated collector.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said wheels have paralleldriving shafts, said wheels are substantially coplanar, and saidcollector passes upwardly out of said reservoir to said second wheel,then across the tops of both wheels and then downwardly from said firstwheel into said reservoir.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein said means for removing saidhydrophobic material from said coated collector comprises doctor blademeans engagingsaid collector when it passes from said second wheel tosaid first wheel.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 3, wherein said means for driving saidwheels is constructed and arranged to drive said second wheel with aperipheral speed slightly greater than the peripheral speed of saidfirst wheel, whereby to substantially prevent regression of saidhydrophobic material in a direction opposite to the rotation of saidsecond wheel, and said doctor blade means places a drag on saidcollector causing it to slip on the periphery of said second wheel.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein said collector is of such aspecific gravity that it substantially floats on the fluid in saidreservoir, and the length of said collector floating on said liquid isgreater than the distance between said driving shafts plus the radius ofeach of said wheels, whereby said collector travels across the surfaceof the liquid in said reservoir in a non-linear manner.

'6. Apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein said means for removingsaid hydrophobic material from said coated collector comprises doctorblade means engaging said collector where it passes from said secondwheel to said first wheel, and also a scraper engaging the periphery. ofsaid second wheel where it is not engaged with said collector.

7. Apparatus as defined in claim 2, including a generally planar baseextending vertically back to said wheels, said shafts having bearingsmounted on said base, and a motor mounted on said base and havingdriving connections with each of said shafts.

8. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said wheels are mounted on acommon drive shaft with their peripheries adjacent, said collectortravels a predetermined distance around the periphery of said secondwheel and at that point means is provided to move said collector intodrivable engagement with the periphery of said first wheel.

9. Apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein means is provided at thezone of travel of said collector for said predetermined distance to holdsaid collector on the periphery of said second wheel.

10. Apparatus as defined in claim 9, wherein said means for holding saidcollector on the peripheryof said second wheel is a rotatable rollerwhose periphery holds said collector in drivable engagement with saidfirst wheel.

11. Apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein said means for moving saidcollector into drivable engagement with said first wheel is a fixed shoemeans frictionally engaged by said collector, said shoe having a surfacecamming said collector from the periphery of said second wheel to theperiphery of said first wheel.

12. Apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein said first wheel has a rimrigidly connected therewith and extending parallel to the axis of saidcommon drive shaft and thus providing said second wheel.

13. Apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein said rim has a diameterslightly greater than the diameter of the collector-engaging peripheryof said first wheel,

whereby said collector has a slightly greater speed oftravel about saidrim than about the periphery of said first wheel.

14. Apparatus as defined in claim 12, wherein said first wheel has aplurality of flanged teeth operatively connected with said wheel andextending radially outwardly from the periphery thereof at spaced pointscircumferentially thereof, said flanged teeth diverging generallyradially outwardly on opposite sides of said collector and spacedalternately on opposite sides of the collector and so arranged as tofirmly wedge said collector between them, said rim connecting thoseflanged teeth on one side of the collector and extending parallel to theaxis of rotation of said first wheel.

15. Apparatus as defined in claim 14, including fixed cam shoespositioned and arranged to engage said collector on said rim and tocause said collector to engage said flanged teeth in a drivingrelationship.

16. Apparatus as defined in claim 15, and wherein said cam shoes areformed as doctor blades to engage said collector in a manner to removethe hydrophobic material collected thereon.

1. Apparatus for collecting hydrophobic material from a layer floatingon a liquid reservoir comprising a single endless loop of an elongatedflexible generally cylindrical collector of substantially uniformdiameter having attraction for the hydrophobic material, drive means forpassing said collector into said reservoir beneath said layer and thenupwardly and out through said layer whereby said hydrophobic material iscoated on the surface of said collector, said drive means including afirst wheel having a collector-gripping periphery and a second wheelhaving a nongripping periphery several times the diameter of saidcollector with said first wheel pulling said collector out of saidreservoir over said second wheel, means supporting each of said wheelsfor rotation about a horizontal axis above said reservoir, means fordriving said wheels with the peripheral speed of said second wheel atleast equal to the peripheral speed of said first wheel, and means forremoving said hydrophobic material from said coated collector. 2.Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said wheels have paralleldriving shafts, said wheels are substantially coplanar, and saidcollector passes upwardly out of said reservoir to said second wheel,then across the tops of both wheels and then downwardly from said firstwheel into said reservoir.
 3. Apparatus as defined in claim 2, whereinsaid means for removing said hydrophobic material from said coatedcollector comprises doctor blade means engaging said collector when itpasses from said second wheel to said first wheel.
 4. Apparatus asdefined in claim 3, wherein said means for driving said wheels isconstructed and arranged to drive said second wheel with a peripheralspeed slightly greater than the peripheral speed of said first wheel,whereby to substantially prevent regression of said hydrophobic materialin a direction opposite to the rotation of said second wheel, and saiddoctor blade means places a drag on said collector causing it to slip onthe periphery of said second wheel.
 5. APparatus as defined in claim 4,wherein said collector is of such a specific gravity that itsubstantially floats on the fluid in said reservoir, and the length ofsaid collector floating on said liquid is greater than the distancebetween said driving shafts plus the radius of each of said wheels,whereby said collector travels across the surface of the liquid in saidreservoir in a non-linear manner.
 6. Apparatus as defined in claim 2,wherein said means for removing said hydrophobic material from saidcoated collector comprises doctor blade means engaging said collectorwhere it passes from said second wheel to said first wheel, and also ascraper engaging the periphery of said second wheel where it is notengaged with said collector.
 7. Apparatus as defined in claim 2,including a generally planar base extending vertically back to saidwheels, said shafts having bearings mounted on said base, and a motormounted on said base and having driving connections with each of saidshafts.
 8. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said wheels aremounted on a common drive shaft with their peripheries adjacent, saidcollector travels a predetermined distance around the periphery of saidsecond wheel and at that point means is provided to move said collectorinto drivable engagement with the periphery of said first wheel. 9.Apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein means is provided at the zoneof travel of said collector for said predetermined distance to hold saidcollector on the periphery of said second wheel.
 10. Apparatus asdefined in claim 9, wherein said means for holding said collector on theperiphery of said second wheel is a rotatable roller whose peripheryholds said collector in drivable engagement with said first wheel. 11.Apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein said means for moving saidcollector into drivable engagement with said first wheel is a fixed shoemeans frictionally engaged by said collector, said shoe having a surfacecamming said collector from the periphery of said second wheel to theperiphery of said first wheel.
 12. Apparatus as defined in claim 8,wherein said first wheel has a rim rigidly connected therewith andextending parallel to the axis of said common drive shaft and thusproviding said second wheel.
 13. Apparatus as defined in claim 8,wherein said rim has a diameter slightly greater than the diameter ofthe collector-engaging periphery of said first wheel, whereby saidcollector has a slightly greater speed of travel about said rim thanabout the periphery of said first wheel.
 14. Apparatus as defined inclaim 12, wherein said first wheel has a plurality of flanged teethoperatively connected with said wheel and extending radially outwardlyfrom the periphery thereof at spaced points circumferentially thereof,said flanged teeth diverging generally radially outwardly on oppositesides of said collector and spaced alternately on opposite sides of thecollector and so arranged as to firmly wedge said collector betweenthem, said rim connecting those flanged teeth on one side of thecollector and extending parallel to the axis of rotation of said firstwheel.
 15. Apparatus as defined in claim 14, including fixed cam shoespositioned and arranged to engage said collector on said rim and tocause said collector to engage said flanged teeth in a drivingrelationship.
 16. Apparatus as defined in claim 15, and wherein said camshoes are formed as doctor blades to engage said collector in a mannerto remove the hydrophobic material collected thereon.